In mining environments, escape line systems constructed from ropes or cables have been suspended from the roof of the mines. The purpose of the safety line is to assist miners in escaping from the mine or for rescue personnel to enter the mine in the event that there is a fire, flood, etc., where visibility is limited. Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts the current state-of-the-art mining “escape line” system that is standard throughout the mining industry.
The system consists essentially of an escape line that is made from a rope, string and/or cable that is suspended from the roof of the mine. To use the system, miners grab onto the escape line using their hands and walk towards the exit of the mine. At each of the suspension points, miners remove their hands from the escape line and then grab the line on the other side of the suspension point. Indicators are placed at intervals along the length of the rope which provide miners with a visual and tactile reference point or warning. The indicators may be used to indicate the direction that the miner is traveling. For example, certain indicators are arrow-shaped and the arrow points towards the exit of the mine. Similarly, the indicators may include reflectors, such as green and red reflectors, to indicate that miner is exiting or entering the mine. The indicators may also be used to indicate that a particular location has been reached. For example, it is often understood that consecutive orb-shaped indicators are placed near a branching location where the escape line branches in two or more directions.
This system has, thus far, been a relatively effective means for assisting miners to escape mines when needed. However, there are many areas where the system could be improved. For example, since this system is typically employed in mines and is typically only used during or after a triggering event, the condition of the mine and the miners are typically not well suited for making a quick, safe and organized escape from the mine. Rather, the mine is often dark and the miners have limited vision and may have sustained injuries. The miners' exit is slowed and made more dangerous since they are required to grasp the escape line by hand and because they have to then remove their hands from the line at each suspension point and reflectors.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved escape system for miner egress that overcomes the problems associated with today's escape line systems.
The above and other needs are met by a guidance and signaling system that includes an overhead railway having an ingress direction and an egress direction. The egress direction may begin at a beginning located near a mining work area and end at an ending located outside of the mining work area. The system includes a trolley configured for human transport that rolls along the overhead railway in either the ingress or egress directions.
The railway is mounted to a roof of a mine and includes a plurality of rails connected together at ends. Each rail has a substantially horizontal bottom flange.
The trolley has a base plate that is placed below the bottom flange of the rails. The base plate has a front end, a back end, and left and right sides. Wheel assemblies are fixedly mounted proximate the left and right sides of the base plate and are configured to engage left and right sides of the bottom flange. Each wheel assembly has a wheel mounting plate extending vertically upwards from the base plate, at least two wheels mounted side-by-side, each configured to engage and roll along a top surface of the bottom flange, a clicker.
The clicker is configured to engage protrusions extending away from the bottom flange. In engaging the protrusions, the clicker moves between a first position where the trolley rolls past the protrusion and a second position where the trolley is stopped by the protrusion. The clicker is biased to the second position, but is configured to move automatically to the first position when the trolley is travelling from ending to beginning (i.e., when the miner is escaping the mine by traveling in the egress direction).
The trolley also includes a pair of handles extending downwards from the front end of the base plate that are configured to be gripped by a miner standing on a floor of the mine. The miner grasps the handles as he travels through the mine.